Lethal Hit to the Papacy?

I have high praise for Melanie Phillip's book, Londonistan. If only her recent reaction to the controversy surrounding Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson were as measured and objective as her treatment of radical Islam...

After blasting the Pope and the Vatican over the decision, Phillips goes further to suggest the presence of a dormant anti-semitism in the "troubling residue of ambiguity" resulting from the circumstances of former Cardinal Ratzinger's early life. She grants that the facts don't "make him a Nazi." But for that pesky, troubling residue...

The residue is enough, for Phillips at least, to justify a charge that is as preposterous as it is worn, tired and definitively refuted: "He set in train the beatification of Pope Pius XII — dubbed ‘Hitler’s Pope’ for his silence in the face of the Holocaust, but whom Benedict defended for secretly saving many Jews — until protests forced him last October to put the beatification on hold." The claim that Pope Pius XII was "Hitler's Pope" may yet be held by those who don't know their history or choose to skim over the details in their prejudice against the Catholic Church, but I didn't expect this from Melanie Phillips, a fact that may very well be a testament to my unfamiliarity with her long-held views.

Ignorance of history is one thing; ignorance of theology another. I charge Melanie Phillips with neither, although I wonder about the latter as I ponder her concluding doubt on the Pope's "fitness to fulfill the demands of his high office" and her poorly reasoned certainty that "the doctrine of papal infallibility has just taken a lethal hit."

What's taken a lethal hit, for this reader at least, is Melanie Phillip's analytical credibility regarding Jewish-Catholic relations.

Relevant Reading:

The Myth of Hitler's Pope: Pope Pius XII and His Secret War Against Nazi Germany
Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust

German Guilt Fuels Attack on Pope

Clarifying remarks from the Secretariat of State of the Holy See

Londonistan
Vatican: Stop pressuring pope on Pope Pius XII's beatification

Our New President

I used to begin most of my days with a prayer for President Bush. Now I do so for President Obama. Like many conservatives, I want him to be successful in spite of my opposition to many of his campaign promises. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States and deserves the respect due to his office.

On this thirty-sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court's abominable decision to strike down all state laws against abortion, I've read President Obama's inaugural speech with thoughts of things to come.

In his speech, President Obama stated, "It is the fire fighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate."

How much of our fate hinges on a parent's willingness to nurture a child?

President Obama today remarked that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision "not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters."

The rhetoric is as disappointing as it is unoriginal and unsurprising. But the reality of a pro-abortion executive branch will snuff out the lives of more than a few potential firefighters and parents.

The President stated, "With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

"Hope" is the word that has so often been associated with Barack Obama, from the title of his book, through the campaign trail, and on inauguration day. With hope, then, we seek to pass on the gift of freedom to future generations. Obama speaks of hope AND virtue; for the Christian, there is no distinction; indeed, there is only the virtue of hope.

In a critique of Karl Marx, Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his recent encyclical, "he forgot that man always remains man. He forgot man and he forgot man's freedom. He forgot that freedom always remains also freedom for evil. He thought that once the economy had been put right, everything would automatically be put right. His real error is materialism: man, in fact, is not merely the product of economic conditions, and it is not possible to redeem him purely from the outside by creating a favourable economic environment."

We have fallen into a similar error. So much "hope" in the new Obama administration is dedicated to economic and technological progress. I do not dispute that the economy should be set right and as a technologist myself, I do not underestimate the importance of technology to our economic progress. Yet I take to heart the words of our Holy Father: "If technical progress is not matched by corresponding progress in man's ethical formation, in man's inner growth (cf. Eph 3:16; 2 Cor 4:16), then it is not progress at all, but a threat for man and for the world."

We are called upon to support a President who on one hand believes that the fate of the nation rests in no small part on the willingness of parents to nurture their children, but on the other hand opposes state intervention in the ultimate act of unwillingness to nurture a child: abortion.

Requiescat in Pace: Father Richard John Neuhaus

I will not forget reading these words on Raymond Arroyo's blog on January 8th: "Father Richard John Neuhaus has gone to the Lord. My heart breaks with so many of you who loved and respected Father Neuhaus."

Like so many, I will admire and respect Fr. Neuhaus for the rest of my life. I didn't know him personally, but I read him regularly, most often in the pages of First Things. And in his writings I found faith, wisdom, hope and love.

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus will be sorely missed for decades to come. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

Relevant Reading:

As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning

Born Toward Dying

Distractions & Non-Distractions

Michael J. Totten writes: "The war against Saddam Hussein in Iraq can plausibly be described as a distraction from the war against Al Qaeda. But the war against Al Qaeda in Iraq cannot possibly be accurately described as a distraction from the war against Al Qaeda."

Well put. And so often, still, the war against Al Qaeda in Iraq is described as a distraction from the war against Al Qaeda.

Relevant Reading:

Al Qaeda’s Defeat In Iraq

Just War and Iraq Wars

Vote your Conscience

A dear friend shared this with me today; it belongs here:

Rationalizing Roe

Suann Therese Maier, the mother of four and former director of non-profit support organizations for pregnant women and children with disabilities, writes:

"At the end of the day, the Democratic party in 2008 has conceded nothing to pro-life Democrats. The fact that Sen. Obama listens respectfully to pro-lifers without calling them reactionary dunces does not constitute progress. Results and behavior are what matter. On both those counts, the party has again failed to show any real sensitivity to pro-life concerns. In that light, high profile Catholics who support Obama are simply rationalizing their surrender on Roe."

The rest of her commentary is a good read; I hope there are many others who think the same for similar reasons.

The Democrats' unyielding commitment to abortion "rights" has been and will continue to be the largest part of their undoing in the public square. One fine day, when both parties recognize that every child is welcomed in life and protected in law and work accordingly to apply the promises of the Declaration of Independence to everyone, not just those with the voice and power to defend their rights, America will again assume a position of moral leadership in the world, not unlike the position of moral leadership assumed by Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain in this campaign against the most liberal Democrat to run for the Presidency.

Don't rationalize Roe; do support McCain / Palin.

Relevant Reading:

A Vote for Sarah Palin

Conceived Alive, Born Alive

It is important for Catholics to remember that opposition to abortion is our heritage. In a recent article, Elizabeth Lev makes this point after posing a question:

"In books, it seems so easy to look down on the Ancients for doing something so barbaric as leaving a child out to die. But what are we to make of the tolerance of the presence of this same brutal practice in our modern liberal democracies?"

I am impressed by the number of people I've encountered over the years who don't know what partial birth abortion is. Less impressive is the sense of horror that descends upon them as I regrettably break the news that America has become a society in which a federal law to ban the procedure wasn't passed until the year 2003, only to receive relentless legislative and judicial opposition until the Supreme Court upheld it in 2007. Indeed, I'd expect any person of dignity and goodwill to be no less than horrified and scandalized by the fact that it's even considered up for debate.

No less impressive is the remarkable distribution of ignorance about laws to protect infants who survive botched abortion attempts. The Born Alive Infants Protection Act, a significant bill toward this end, was signed into law by President Bush on August 5, 2002. At signing, the President stated:

"This important legislation ensures that every infant born alive -- including an infant who survives an abortion procedure -- is considered a person under federal law,
.
.
.
The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act is a step toward the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law. It is a step toward the day when the promises of the Declaration of Independence will apply to everyone, not just those with the voice and power to defend their rights."

Testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives with respect to the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act of 2000, Jill Stanek stated under oath:

"Abortion is a cancer that is literally killing America. It is killing our children while it is killing our consciences. It began when we took God out of our decision making and proclaimed that the little beings growing inside of women were 'products of conception' and not little girls and little boys. Who should be surprised that we keep pushing the envelope so that now we are aborting these 'products of conception' alive? I even work at a hospital named 'Christ' that does this very thing! It is beyond me to comprehend that we're doing what we're doing now, and so I can't even imagine what horrible ways we will think of next to torture our children. Please help put an end to this by proclaiming infants as American human being homo sapiens with the same legal and medical rights that you and I big people have. Thank you."

Senator Barack Obama is firmly committed to granting legal protection to women who choose to have their babies aborted. He correctly sees a threat posed to Roe V. Wade within every "step toward the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law." For such a day will only come when we as a nation stop pretending that the right to life doesn't extend through the womb to the moment of conception. When the Supreme Court upheld the federal ban on partial birth abortion in 2007, Obama stated:

"I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women. As Justice Ginsburg emphasized in her dissenting opinion, this ruling signals an alarming willingness on the part of the conservative majority to disregard its prior rulings respecting a woman’s medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a doctor and patient. I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women."

I have no confidence in the moral judgement of Senator Barack Obama.

Like Elizabeth Lev, I wonder why our nation tolerates elected leaders and appointed judges who would defend brutality as undeniable and pronounced as that of partial birth abortion and the live birth abortions about which Jill Stanek and Allison Baker testified. Yet I believe that most of the tolerance held by the American people for this state of affairs is proportional to our ignorance. Yes, there are those who knowingly support the tragic endeavor of abortionists here and abroad. But in my experience, most people who learn of these things for the first time exercise better moral judgement in a moment than Barack Obama has exercised during his entire campaign. Indeed, most of us need not consider our pay grade when confronted with the truth.

Relevant Reading:

Obama Cover-up Revealed On Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Bill

Why Obama Really Voted For Infanticide

Leaving Abortion-Surviving Infants to Die

Obama and Infanticide

Life Lies

Unheralded Good

Live Birth Abortions

The Party of Death and the Cause for Life

Do You Know Enough?

Relevant Reading:

Update: Obama Campaign's Response to Our Ad

AIP Calls Obama Campaign Efforts to Prosecute Political Opponents “Bullying” and “Censorship”

Airing the Ayers-Obama Connection

More On Obama's Friend and Colleague, Unrepentant Terrorist Bill Ayers

New Info On Bill Ayers, Obama's Unrepentant Terrorist Friend and Colleague